Automatic filaturing machine



March 25,1930. T. YUASA AUTOMATIC FILATURING MACHINE Filed March 28. 1928 4 Sheets-Sheet l T. YUASA AUTOMAT I C FILATURING MACHINE March 25, 1930.

Filed March 28, 1928 4 Sheets-Sheet March 25, 1930. T. YuAsA AUTOMATIC FILATURING MACHINE 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed March 28, 1928 MWHVTOR March 25, 1930. V T, YUASA, f 1,751,968

AUTOMATIC FILATURING MACHINE Filed March 2a, 1928 4 sn'eets-sneet 4 7'0/0/lR0 was B) Maw Patented Mar. 25 1930 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE TOICHIRO YUASA OF TOKYO, JAPAN AUTOMATIC FILATURING MACHINE I This invention relates to improvements in machines for reeling silk from cocoons and has particular reference to an automatic. filaturing machine which consists of a cocoon supplying box, a cocoon throwing-out device, and a stop device (hereinafter called stopper) to suspend the operation in order to join filament-ends when snapped. An object of the invention is to efiect the work to be accomplished by automatic methods requiring no handwork throughout and to produce a superior quality of threads in their uniformity of size with minimum burls.

Briefly, the invention consists of an improved machine for reeling silk from cocoons wherein the filaments of the cocoons that are being unwound are reeled oif together andtwisted into one thread by arranging them in order and leading them from a filament 2 joining head at the end of a filament guiding lever to a suitable reeling means. Also, the cocoons which are supplied from a reserve cocoon chamber to the sluice of a cocoon throwing-out device, by theflow of water, are successively and individually admitted into a pan over a horizontal pin at one end of a filament-joining lever,which is controlled by the operation of the lever for guiding the filaments. This transfer of the cocoons is accomplished by a cocoon scoop rod which, at the same time and during its upward movement, adds a new filament to the recelved with their filament-ends drawn out filament--joining head. Further, means are provided for stopping the device for joining the filament-ends when a loss of tension in the threads of the cocoons occurs, as upon the breaking of a filament.

A machine according to the present invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a side viewof a v ertical section of the entire machine; 1 1

Figure 2 is an enlarged plan view of the machine; 4 t

Figure 3 is a plan view of the machine in which the cutting device is not shown;

' Figure 4 is a vertical sectionalview of the automatic devices for cutting and joining to filament-ends;

Figure 5 is a perspective view of the device for joining filament-ends;

Figure 6 is a perspective view of the cocoon throwing-out device;

Figure 7 is a front view of the cutting device for the filament-ends; and

Figure 8 is an external side view of the same.

Similar references refer to similar parts throughout all of the figures.

The invention consists of a machine comprising several devices each of a special construction, namely: a cocoon supplying box, a cocoon throwing-out device, an automatic joining device for filament-ends, a stop device for stopping the operation in case of snaps until the broken ends are again joined. The thread is wound on a reel after it is interlaced and twisted.

A cocoon supplying box B is provided with a hot water tank 1 and a chamber 2 for reserve cocoons is placed at the rear of a pan A, as shown in Figures 1 and 3. Hot water is supplied by a feed-pipe to the hot water tank, and said water then runs out through holes in a partition 3 to the chamber 2 containing the reserve cocoons. The said chamber 2 may have no divisions therein, or it may have many partitions in a row so as to form longitudinal compartments 4, each of which has a width equal to a cocoon.

In the chamber 2 the reserve cocoons are and connected to the rod 19. They are'then ready to supplement the used cocoons, one by one, when a vacancy occurs in the pan A. The cocoon supplying box B makes a reciprocating lateral movement from left to right, within a range of a certain distance relative to the pan A wherein only the cocoons which.

gate posts 7 are circular and loosely fitted upon upright axes 8 so that they can freely rotate'in front of' the said gate.

" The cocoon throwing-out device-G, which is arranged as shown in detail in Figures 4 and6, is provided with a sluice 6 which consists of two side walls 9- and a bottom 10 and is of such a width thatonly one cocoon is allowed to flow through. Between the side walls is-loosely mounted a transverse axle 11 to whichare fixed a cocoon scoop 12, a stopper 13, a rod 14, an arm 16 for turning the axle 11, and a controlling rod 15 for limiting the rotation of the said axle 11.

' The controlling rod 15 limits the rotation of the axle 11 by the fact that the bent extremity of the rodcomes into engagement with. the end of one of the sluice walls 9. The arm 16 is fixed at one end of the said axle 11 and the outer end of the arm is connected Y to a coiled spring 17 which is attached to the adjacentsluice wall 9.

The hot water flowing out of the tank 1 through thelperforated partition 3 into the reserve cocoon chamber '2 causes the cocoons in said chamber to be moved towards the back wall 5 of the pan A.

So long as the sluice 6 is occupied by a cocoon, another cocoon is prevented from coming into the sluice from chamber 2; but as soon as the sluice is empty, a cocoon will be free to enter and replace the last one therein. 1

The,construction of the automatic device D for joining filament-ends is shown in detail in Figures 4, 5 and 6. The end of the projecting arm 22 of the encircling strap 21 of aneccentric 20 which is fixed on amain shaft 18 is connected by a pivot 26 to an .intermediate portion of a rocking. lever 25 suspended by a pivot 24 from a part of the frame 23 of the machine, whereb'y during the rotation of the shaft 18 the rocking lever 25 is oscillated forward and backward. At

- the lower end of the rocking lever '25 a spindle 27 is provided which projects from 'both sides thereof. On one side thespindle isfitte d into the slot 29 of a-connecting rod 28, and on the other side the spindle is adapted to engage a notch 31 cut in' thrust rod 30. The opposite endof the connecting rod 28 to the slot 29 is pivoted to a disc or plate 33 which rotates upon the axle 32 freely mounted on the frame 23. The thrust rod 30 is also pivoted at one end to the disc 33 by a spindle 34 and is suspended bya cord 35 at the other end thereof. To the disc 33 is rigidly fixed one end of the filament-joining lever 49 which has a horizontal pro'ecting pin 50 on its other end. The filamentoining lever '49 is thus made to rise and fall by the rotation of the disc 33.

' A lever'38 for guiding the filaments and a screw-threaded rod '39 are coaxially fitted to a disc 37 'which is secured to a spindle 36 transversely mounted on the frame 23. A

counterweight 40 is screwed on the rod 39 and maintains the balance with the tension on the filaments that are guided at the end of the lever 38. To the screw-threaded rod 39 is connectedthe upper end of the cord 35 above referred to.

The device E for cutting filament-ends is positioned above the device 0, see Figures 1,

4, 7 and 8', and consists of an oblong case The end of the lever 38 is provided with a V-shaped filament-joining .head 41.

42 having its lower part in-the shape of an inverted V. The said case has, on its inner side, one blade of scissors 43 which is fixed and also a bent lever 46 pivoted by a pin 44; one end of the bent lever 46 is so placed as to press down the back of the other blade of the scissors, the other end 47 of the lever 46 being so bent as to project through a slot 48 in the lidof the case. The projecting end 47 rises and falls, that is, whenever the said end 47 is struck by the horizontal projecting part 50 of the lever 49, so that the end 'of the lever 46 presses upon the back of the scissor blade when the opposite end-47 is pushed up, thus enabling the scissors to cut the ends of filaments coming between the blades.' It is to be noted that the'lever 46 is provided with a spring 45 to regain its normal position after the horizontal project-- ing pin 50 moves away from the projection 47.

According to this embodiment of the invention, the operation may be described as follows: Firstly, the required number of cocoons is placed in the pan A. After their' ished with or of its becoming very thin, the

end of thelever 38 ascends under the influence of. the counterweight '40 which descends with the screw-threaded rod 39 and the end of the thrust rod 30, the latter'being suspended from the said .rod 39. The notch 31 in rod 30 also descends, and as the rocking lever 25 is constantly oscillating, (following the rotation of the main shaft 18) the spindle 27 comesinto-enga'gement with the notch-31,

thereby pushing the thrustrod 30. The ro-' tary disc 33 is consequently rotated and the filament-joining lever 49 is moved to'its lowest position. When the filament-joining lever 49 lowers,-

its pin 50 pushes down therod 14 by intervening between the cocoon-stopper 13 and i said rod, and the axle 11 is thereby rotated.

As two or three cocoons enter into the sluice- 6 of the device 0 from the reserve cocoon chamber 2 and are held by the cocoon stopper 13, the foremost cocoon is scooped up by the scoop 12, which is extended throu h the axle 11, and passed out to the pan" over the said axlell and the horizontal projecting pin 50. Figure 1 illustrates the position of the cocoon which is about to be thrown out while the scoop 12 prevents another cocoon from taking the place of scooped one.

Np sooner has the first cocoon in the sluice 6 been passed into the pan A than the spindle 27 pulls back the connecting rod28 on account of the return motion of the rocking lever 25 and as the rotary disc 33 rotates in the reverse direction the filament-joining lever 49 returns; the horizontal projecting pin is raised with the end of filament of the thrown-out cocoon as it is hung up on rod 19. At an intermediate point in this motion the cocoon stopper.l3 is raised by "rotationupon the axle 11 and returns to its As the horizontal part '50 of the filament-joining lever 49 conseoriginal position.

quently comes into engagement with the end 47 of the lever 46 of the cutting device F and pushes itaup, the scissors 43 exercise a cutting action so that the filament which then comes between the scissors is cut off just at a point between the said horizontal part 50 and the V-shaped head. As the filament-joining lever 49 still continues to rise, its horizontal pin 50 completes the joining action by afiixing the filament to the filamentjoinin-g head 41 and the lever 49 continues to ascend to its original position. The axle 11 being free to rotate, the cocoon scoop re turns to its original position in the bottom 10 of the sluice 6. The cocoon which is held up in the sluice by the rod 12 occupies the foremost position advancing .to the cocoon stopper l3 and stops on the cocoon scoop. Vhen there is next produced a space in the sluice 6, a cocoon in the reserve chamber 2 advances by reason of the flow of water and raised 'by the cord 35; and the notch 31 is raised to a position where it isfree from the spindle 27. The device for joining the filament-ends is therefore inactive, notwithstanding the constant rotation of the shaft.

18, u ntil the said tension again decreases.

It is clear that the filament is thus automatically wound on to a reel by the present machine as above explained. When the rotaon account of the newly connected cocoon which may not work perfectly for a short interval of time during which the rocking lever 25'makes oscillatory motion. In such case, there is a possibility that another 0000011 or cocoons may be supplied to the device for joining the filament-ends. To remedy these defects, the present machine is provided with the following devices.

As shown in Figures 4 and 5, a transverse pin 51 is freely carried by the frame 23, the

plate 52 serves to hold the filament-joining lever 49 at a raised position, by engaging with a notch 54 provided at the back of the said lever 49, after the said plate 52 has moved it from the position shown by the dotted lines to that shown byfull lines in Figure 5. The plate 52 is pushed up by the outer circumference of the rotating eccentric 20. When the lever 49 is thus partially returned (from the dotted to the full line position, Figure 5) the position of' the spindle 34 is also slightly raised, consequently the notch 31, in the thrust rod 30 which is sup ported by the pin 51, is lowered; by this means the notch 31' will be brought to occupy a position at which it comes into engagement with the spindle 27.

When the device for joining the filamentends has functioned, the spindle 27 and the notch 31 "will not engage with each other while the second oscillatory motion of the rocking lever 25 takes place because the lever 49 had already been raised and brought to i the position indicated by the dotted lines in Figure 5. However, on the third oscillatory motion of lever 25, the spindle 27 and the notch are brought to a position of engagement, as the filament-joininglever 49 now occupies the position shown by the full lines by the action of the plate 52. After ,the first function of the device for joining filamentends has thus been fulfilled, the second function of the mechanism will be stopped, giving sufficient time for the filament-ends of newly supplied cocoons to be joined.

In order to insure that the machine may be completely automatic, it is provided with a stopping device for preventing the joining of the filament-ends when snapping of the filaments of the twisted thread takes place.

.This stopper device may be, for example, ar-

ranged in the following manner: A part of tion of the shaft 18 is rapid, the tension of zthe circumference of the transverse pm 51 is the thread is often not restored immediately made plane, thereby serving as a cam.

Though the thrust rod 30 serves its function, as previously explained, so long as it is supported by the planed part, when it is supported by the part other than the said planed part, by giving a slight turn to the in 51, the end ofthe thrust rod isconsidera ly raised which prevents the notch 31 and the spindle 27 from engaging each other. I Consequently, the device for joining the filament-ends entirely stops its operation whenever the pin 51 is given a slight turn. When a hook provided at the end of a rod N fixed-at one end of the transverse pin 51 (see Figural) is hung up to a part of the reeling thread, the rod N falls down by its own weight to a position shown by the dotted lines in Figure 1 when the thread breaks, and the pin 51 is slightly turned. Thereby the operation of the device for joining filament-ends is entirely stopped.

As detailed above, the present machine can automatically perform the work of reeling entirely without the hands of operatives who have only to supply the reserve cocoon chamher with cocoons having their filament-ends drawn out and to connect these ends to th rod 19.

It is to be noted that the above details are merely one of the'various forms of working the present invention and that consequently the invention claimed is not restricted to the particular form therein described.

What is claimed is: i

1. A machinefor reeling silk from cocoons wherein the filaments of cocoons that are being unwound are reeled off togetherfand twisted into one thread, said machine comprising a filament-guiding lever having a filament-joining head for guiding the filaments, acocoon throwing-out device including a sluice into which reserve cocoons are fed, a pan, a movable scoop in said sluice for removing cocoons therefrom into said pan said filament-joining lever fixed thereto, a

in at one end of the latter lever, a rocking 1 ever engaging with the slotted connecting rod and adapted to co-act with the notched rod,

and a flexible element connecting said notched rod to said filament guiding lever.

' 3. A machine as claimed in'claim 1', char acterized by a connecting'rod having a slot in .notched rod to said filament guiding lever, a

transverse pin for supporting said thrust rod and havinga flat surface forming a cam, and means to operate said supporting pin to preventengagement of said rocking lever'with the notch in said thrust rod.

4. A machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein the cocoon throwing-outdcvice includes a cocoon scoop rod, :1 stopper rod and a rod for keeping the cocoons down, a rotatable transverse axle to which said parts are fixed, side walls constituting sai-d sluice and having a width that only allows one cocoon at a time to pass through, the, rod keeping the cocoons down being pressed down by a horizontal part of the. filament joining lever, whereby a cocoon admitted to the said pan is prevented in its :ubanccment by an extended portion of the said scoop rod, the said scoop rod returning to its original position by being pushed up by the rod that keeps the cocoons down.

-5. A machine as claimed in claim 1 including a reserve cocoon chamber communicating with said sluice, and closed by a back wall of said pan, and means to cause the cocoons in the reserve chamber to be successively pushed forward into said sluice.

6. A machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein a stop device is operable to render said filament-joining lever inefl'ective when a filament breaks.

7. A machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein means are provided under the control of said filament-joining lever to cut a filament.

In testimony whereof I have afiixed my 

